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U.S. Researchers Develop Optimisation Method for Robotic System Simulation

Engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have created a design tool that roboticists can utilise as a type of automatic formula for success. The team has developed an optimisation code that can be used to simulations of nearly any autonomous robotic system and can be used to automatically determine how and where to modify a system to improve a robot’s performance.

“If a mechanical engineer wanted to design a wind turbine, they could use a 3D CAD tool to design the structure and then a finite-element analysis tool to see if it can withstand certain loads’” said Charles Dawson, an MIT graduate student along with ChuChu Fan, assistant professor in MIT’s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

The team demonstrated that the tool could rapidly improve the performance of two distinct autonomous systems: one in which a robot traversed a path between two obstacles and another in which two robots worked together to move a heavy box.

The researchers anticipate that the new general-purpose optimiser will accelerate the development of numerous autonomous systems, such as walking robots, self-driving vehicles, soft and dexterous robots, and collaborative robot teams.

Typically, a roboticist optimises an autonomous system by first creating a simulation of the system and its many interdependent subsystems, including its planning, control, perception, and hardware components. Then, it must tune the parameters of each component and run the simulation forward to determine how the system would perform in the given scenario.

A roboticist is only able to determine the optimal combination of components to achieve the desired performance after executing numerous trial-and-error scenarios. Dawson and Fan sought to revolutionise a tedious, overly tailored, and time-consuming procedure.

The researchers created an optimisation framework, or computer code, that can automatically identify modifications that can be made to an existing autonomous system to achieve the desired result.

The core of the code is based on automatic differentiation, or “autodiff,” a programming tool initially used to train neural networks and developed by the machine learning community. Autodiff is a technique that can “evaluate the derivative” or the sensitivity to change of any parameter in a computer programme quickly and efficiently. Using recent advancements in autodiff programming, Dawson and Fan created a general-purpose optimisation tool for autonomous robotic systems.

The team tested their new optimisation tool on two distinct autonomous robotic systems and demonstrated that, compared to conventional optimisation methods, their tool significantly improved the performance of each system in laboratory experiments.

The first system consisted of a wheeled robot tasked with planning a route between two obstacles based on signals from two beacons placed in separate locations. The group endeavoured to determine the optimal placement of the beacons to create a clear path between the obstacles. They discovered that the new optimiser quickly retraced the robot’s simulation and identified the optimal placement of beacons in five minutes, compared to 15 minutes for conventional methods.

The second, more complex system consisted of two-wheeled robots collaborating to move a box toward the desired location. This system’s simulation included many more subsystems and parameters. Nevertheless, the team’s tool identified the necessary steps for the robots to achieve their objective in a 20-times-faster optimisation process than conventional methods.

The general optimiser is now available for download, and the team plans to refine the code so that it can be applied to more complex systems, such as robots designed to interact with and work alongside humans. This study was partially funded by the Defense Science and Technology Agency of Singapore and IBM.

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Qlik’s vision is a data-literate world, where everyone can use data and analytics to improve decision-making and solve their most challenging problems. A private company, Qlik offers real-time data integration and analytics solutions, powered by Qlik Cloud, to close the gaps between data, insights and action. By transforming data into Active Intelligence, businesses can drive better decisions, improve revenue and profitability, and optimize customer relationships. Qlik serves more than 38,000 active customers in over 100 countries.

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CTC Global Singapore, a premier end-to-end IT solutions provider, is a fully owned subsidiary of ITOCHU Techno-Solutions Corporation (CTC) and ITOCHU Corporation.

Since 1972, CTC has established itself as one of the country’s top IT solutions providers. With 50 years of experience, headed by an experienced management team and staffed by over 200 qualified IT professionals, we support organizations with integrated IT solutions expertise in Autonomous IT, Cyber Security, Digital Transformation, Enterprise Cloud Infrastructure, Workplace Modernization and Professional Services.

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Planview has one mission: to build the future of connected work. Our solutions enable organizations to connect the business from ideas to impact, empowering companies to accelerate the achievement of what matters most. Planview’s full spectrum of Portfolio Management and Work Management solutions creates an organizational focus on the strategic outcomes that matter and empowers teams to deliver their best work, no matter how they work. The comprehensive Planview platform and enterprise success model enables customers to deliver innovative, competitive products, services, and customer experiences. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, with locations around the world, Planview has more than 1,300 employees supporting 4,500 customers and 2.6 million users worldwide. For more information, visit www.planview.com.

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SIRIM is a premier industrial research and technology organisation in Malaysia, wholly-owned by the Minister​ of Finance Incorporated. With over forty years of experience and expertise, SIRIM is mandated as the machinery for research and technology development, and the national champion of quality. SIRIM has always played a major role in the development of the country’s private sector. By tapping into our expertise and knowledge base, we focus on developing new technologies and improvements in the manufacturing, technology and services sectors. We nurture Small Medium Enterprises (SME) growth with solutions for technology penetration and upgrading, making it an ideal technology partner for SMEs.

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HashiCorp provides infrastructure automation software for multi-cloud environments, enabling enterprises to unlock a common cloud operating model to provision, secure, connect, and run any application on any infrastructure. HashiCorp tools allow organizations to deliver applications faster by helping enterprises transition from manual processes and ITIL practices to self-service automation and DevOps practices. 

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IBM is a leading global hybrid cloud and AI, and business services provider. We help clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Nearly 3,000 government and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM’s breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and business services deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM’s legendary commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity and service.

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